o3o
Next chapter!
We actually have less days to update on this than we had thought. But that's because of big chapters.
:V
The council room is excessively large, and Optimus has never liked being here. He carries Firefly to the bowl-shaped space reserved for him, and puts the sparkling on one of the seats, offering him a datapad to draw on. "This is a very important meeting, so you should try to stay quiet."
Firefly gnaws on the edge of the datapad.
It isn't long until the meeting actually starts, and he's called to give his report on trying to find the jet twins and the remaining Decepticons. He hates that he has to give the same report that he's been giving for the last several decacycles; the longer it takes, the more he sees them slipping out of his grasp. He hates that Megatron and Starscream somehow escaped, and that Lugnut disappeared before they could even get to him.
He's nearing the end of his report when Firefly ignites his thrusters and leaps into the air. Optimus curses, and tries to grab him, but misses the little bot. Across the hall, Perceptor and Wheeljack share a look, and Optimus thinks they're laughing at him. With one bot's face covered with a mask, and the other largely expressionless, it is hard to tell.
He's waffling on if he should jump out of his area to grab the tiny mech, when Firefly alights on Ultra's shoulder. Relaxing visibly, Optimus smiles at Ultra when the bot tucks the sparkling gently in his arms. Glancing over at the other council members, he finishes up. Firefly spends the rest of the time with Ultra, either in the mech's arms or tucked gently between missile turrets.
Several other reports are given, and Optimus tries to stay attentive to them, but he really isn't meant for this type of work. Instead, he finds his attention drawn repeatedly to Ultra and Firefly. His spark flutters, seeing Ultra handling the sparkling so well. Someday, that could be their sparkling. He ducks his head and scrolls through a datapad to hide his blush.
When everything is done, Optimus is intercepted part way though walking over to Ultra by Perceptor and Wheeljack. Wheeljack puts a servo on his arm, "You're heading over, and you know you can't be alone with him. We'll be with you, since a sparkling doesn't count."
Optimus can't help but laugh. "I'm just going to be-"
Perceptor gives him a blank look, and interrupts him with, "And he will make an excuse for you to stay until the room is empty or for you to walk with him. We will be here."
Wheeljack pulls him on, making him continue walking, "Besides, your side can't be doing all the chaperoning. That's just not fair to us."
Optimus makes an agreeing sound as they approach Ultra. "I would like it if we had you as chaperons for an upcoming date. I'm sure Ultra can schedule something that will work for all of us." He smiles, "Red Alert is welcome as well, of course."
Before they can reply, Ultra carefully pushes Firefly into Optimus's servos. "I see that this little sparkling decorated you for today's meeting."
Adjusting Firefly he nods as the sparkling shakes his head violently and shouts, "No!"
Sighing softly, Optimus looks down at the tiny mech, "What don't you want this time?"
"No hold!" Firefly whines, and pushes at Optimus's arms. "Ultra! Gun! Gun!"
He gives Firefly back to Ultra, "Looks like he prefers you." It's not surprising. Ultra is more heavily armed and is of a size closer to a Seeker than Optimus.
Ultra allows the sparkling to climb up and play with his gun turrets again. "I suppose it won't do him any harm. Bumblebee or Sunstorm should be along soon to pick him up?"
Optimus shrugs, "I have no idea." He frowns, and starts to walk with Ultra, Wheeljack, and Perceptor to the exit of the council chamber, "Did Blurr call in sick today?"
Ultra glances down at him, "He did. Any reason why you're asking?"
He shudders, "Then it is very likely I'll be looking after Firefly for the rest of the day."
Ultra gives him a confused look, Wheeljack and Perceptor may have done the same -not that he can tell-, before the larger mech's optics widen in understanding. "Do you think this means that Sunstorm will be getting two votes?"
Optimus rubs his temples, "If I know anything about seekers, and I'm pretty good at reading them by now, I'd say that is incredibly likely."
Ultra reaches over and catches one of Optimus's servos, giving it a squeeze, "I believe he won't be any trouble, Optimus. He voted positively last time, and with each meeting, we need fewer approvals."
Audio lights flashing, Wheeljack interjects, "So, Optimus was saying he'd like us to chaperon you on a date, Ultra Magnus. You okay with that?"
"Of course," and Ultra smiles at Optimus. "Provided you try not to cause any explosions, Wheeljack."
Firefly peers down at them, "Boom?"
Optimus winces, and he thinks Perceptor is doing the same, as the mech's shoulders are shaking slightly anyway. "Hopefully not."
The sparkling gives them a sad look, and goes back to curling up in Ultra's turrets. Wheeljack coughs softly, "I make no promises, but I certainly do not plan on it."
Reaching his office corridor, Optimus vents a sigh and holds out his arms, "I have more reports to read. I'll take Firefly back now." Firefly whines and hides behind one of Ultra's turrets. "Don't be like that, Firefly."
Ultra reaches up and plucks the sparkling off his shoulder, "I'm willing to have him stay in my office."
Firefly nods frantically, clinging to Ultra's fingers, "Guns!"
Optimus looks at the sparkling to Ultra, and can't think of any reason why the Magnus can't do it. It isn't like Sunstorm or Bumblebee would be upset, and will give him free time to get cleaned up. He vents a tiny sigh, "If you're sure?"
Ultra nods slowly and happily as Firefly yells out, "Yes! Guns!"
Optimus takes a step back, "Just..."
Ultra tugs him close, and kisses him softly, "I'll be careful, Optimus. You don't have to worry."
He steals a second kiss from Ultra, before stepping back. "We both have work to do. I'll remember to invite Cliffjumper along if I need to speak to you before our shifts end." He turns to Wheeljack and Perceptor, "Thank you for agreeing to chaperon us. I hope it is entertaining for us all."
Wheeljack's audio lights flash amusement as the mech nods, "I don't imagine there will be a dull moment, Optimus."
He smiles, and bids the bots goodbye before walking into his office. Propping himself on his desk, he lets his fans turn on from reacting to the kiss. The sound of them makes his processor flash to the sound of Ultra's in the video he was sent, and he sinks to the floor, grateful that he's alone while he deals with his over enthusiastic imagination.
He checks that the vid file is still securely tucked away where no casual scan will ever find it, and focuses on trying to get his systems to stop heating up with want. There are reports that need to be examined, and he can't just ignore them because his spark wants an overload. Optimus lets his fans cool his frame, picking up a datapad filled with the least interesting materials he can find to keep his processor away from Ultra.
It is several megacycles later that there's a knock on the door. Looking up from his almost finished pile of datapads, he blinks. "Come in."
Cliffjumper steps in, holding Firefly, "You need to eat something, sir."
Firefly pouts, "Candy."
"No candy, Firefly," Optimus responds absently. "And I'm not hungry, Cliffjumper."
"Well," Firefly is put on his desk, beside a carefully organized stack of datapads, which the sparkling promptly knocks over, giggling at the crash it makes, "Firefly is hungry, sir. We don't keep sparkling grade energon around, and I like keeping my emergency ration of it for my own sparklings."
Optimus stares with dismay at the ruined datapad pile. He's going to have to re-sort them all. "He drinks normal energon already." He pulls out the partial cube meant for Firefly and sets it carefully in front of him.
Firefly giggles and sips on the energon, while Cliffjumper gives Optimus a disbelieving look. "Already? That's not ve-"
Optimus shakes his head, stopping the minibot. He picks up the datapad stack, "I know. But he's Bumblebee and Sunstorm's sparkling, and I do not control how they raise him. From what I can tell, they also fill him with candy whenever Firefly demands it."
The sparkling puts down the now empty cube, "Candy?"
Optimus blinks in surprise, reaching over and moving the little jet's wings so he can see them easier, "No candy. Cliffjumper... when did he get the elite guard wings on his Autobot symbols?"
The minibot snorts, "When do you think? Ultra Magnus has always been a pushover when it comes to sparklings. Dunno if he'll be the same way with his own, but I bet Firefly just asked him with big, wide optics." Firefly flutters his wings. "I suppose it's easier with ours," Cliffjumper muses, "we raise them all together, so they don't end up too horribly spoiled."
He starts to organize the datapads again, "I can see how that would work, but not a very effective tactic with seekers with easily convinced Autobots. I'm absolutely certain that Scatterstar," he pauses.
"Scatter!" comes Firefly's happy cry.
He continues, "Has been coaching the sparklings on how to get things from the seekers and various autobots."
"Like Ultra Magnus," Cliffjumper laughs, and reaches forward to rub at the paint on Firefly's wings. "Looks like he used his own insignia paint on them. Those aren't gonna come off for quite a while. Guess you've gotten yourself a little set of wings on your wings, kid."
Firefly gets a look he must have picked up from his father. Seeker smugness.
Optimus sighs, "He's been wanting them for the longest time, too. He'd finally stopped bugging me for them when he saw me. When those wings come off, he's most likely going to be back at it."
He hands Cliffjumper the finished datapads, and watches as the minibot puts them in sub-space, "Well, we may have a future elite guard on our servos." Cliffjumper rubs Firefly's horns, "Not a bad thing, right?"
The sparkling just beams at him.
Optimus looks at Firefly, "Are you going to stay with me the rest of this shift, or do you want to go back to Ultra?"
Firefly's peds hit the ground with the distinctive sound of Seeker heels, and he picks a datapad up off the floor, "You."
Reaching over, Optimus plucks the datapad from the sparkling's servos, replacing it with one that isn't filled with sensitive information, "If that's what you want."
Firefly looks at him, optics wide as the little bot nibbles on the pad, "... yes."
He smiles, "Thank you for bringing him over, Cliffjumper. You can go back to work or go on your break or whatever it was you were planning on doing before this happened."
"Thank you, sir," Cliffjumper exits the room, leaving Optimus to look after Firefly once more.
"Do you know how to draw on the datapads, Firefly?" he asks, unsure if Sari explained it to him or not.
The sparkling gives him an insulted look and punches a few buttons, calling up the art program. "Dumb." He goes back to gnawing on it.
Optimus shakes his head, "If that's what you want to do, then."
The sparkling doesn't respond, and he's not the least bit surprised about that. About a megacycle later, he's finished with all the datapads, while Firefly is soundly recharging on his desk.
Standing up, he pets the tiny mech on his side before pulling out a mirror; it is time to clean off all the stickers, and figure out how to remove the toy wings without somehow ripping off his headfins.
He starts on the stickers; they all peel off without too much fuss, though he ends up having to wipe a lot of residue off afterward. The paint decals take more work, but they don't stand up to a low grade solvent. Optimus stops and studies the wings in the mirror. Those were going to be a problem.
He begins to peel and scrape the stickers securing them on away, and winces. Fragging sensitive headfins.
Several breems later, he's gotten the wings off, but still has several stickers stuck to his fins. He is seriously considering just leaving them there because it hurts to think about them, much less touch. Firefly woke up part way through this painful procedure, and Optimus is sitting in his chair with the sparkling on his lap. "Sorry," comes the soft whisper when he drops the wings on the desk.
Optimus pets the little mech on the back, "You know not to do it again, now. That's about all I really expect."
There's a knock on his door, right before Bumblebee comes in. He's immediately tackled by Firefly, and he's knocked to the floor, "Woah." Bee looks at the sparkling, hugging him back, "Guess you missed me, huh? I missed you too, Firefly." He kisses the top of his helmet before looking at Optimus from the floor, "Did you have any problems with him, bossbot?"
Looking down at Bee, Optimus points to his headfins, "I'm not sure if you watched the news this morning, but your little jet covered me in stickers. Perfectly aligned and symmetrical stickers, but stickers none the less. He also stuck these," Optimus lobs the toy wings at the minibot, "on my headfins. With said stickers. I only just got them off."
Bee bursts into laughter, holding up a servo to give his sparkling a tiny high-five. "Way to go, kiddo, that's epic quality pranking there!" Optimus gives them both a stern look, and Bee forces his laughter down to a less hysterical level. "Oh, bossbot, I'm, uh, sorry?"
Optimus shakes his head and sighs, "You're not at all." He crosses his arms over his chest, "You've been feeding your sparkling energon sweets? Those aren't good for sparklings, Bumblebee. I can't imagine how you ever get him to recharge."
Bee looks away, "He sleeps when he's tired?"
Optimus rubs his optics, "Is Blurr going to be staying with you, or was this just a one time thing?"
Bee sits up, Firefly curled in the minibot's lap, and rubs the back of his head, still looking anywhere but Optimus, "Sunstorm and I are really hoping Blurr will stay, but he..." Bee looks down at Firefly, petting the sparkling on the back, and lowering his voice unhappily, "He may decide we're a huge mistake and take off."
"Will Sunstorm allow him to leave?" Optimus asks, skeptical of the Seeker's ability to simply allow a bot he wants to run away.
"Sure," Bumblebee says, before wincing, "Uh, actually, if Blurr decides to leave, you might want to assign him offplanet for a while. Sunstorm's kinda ... persistent."
Optimus arches an optic ridge. Persistent was one way to put it, yes. "I wouldn't worry too much, Bumblebee. Blurr seems to like you quite a bit."
Bee pulls Firefly into a hug, "But I don't know if he likes Sunstorm, we kind of come as a set, you know."
Optimus walks over, and helps his team mate up, "I'm sure it will turn out just fine, Bumblebee. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't like Sunstorm. He isn't that kind of bot."
"Wings!" Firefly interrupts them, turning in Bee's arms to better display both sides of his wings.
"Yeah, yeah, they're very nice wings, Firefl-" he cuts himself off, "Bossbot? Why does he have Elite Guard wings on his insignias?"
Optimus casts a glance up and sighs, before answering, "You have Ultra Magnus to blame for that."
Bee looks at them, "... really?" Optimus nods quietly, and Bumblebee breaks out into a broad grin, rubbing foreheads with his sparkling, "That's great! Now you'll stop bugging everyone for real wings on your symbols. Hopefully these won't wash off too easily."
Optimus rubs a thumb over the wings, "They're going to be there awhile. Cliffjumper said Ultra used his own paint. Kind of unlikely to go away any time soon."
"Awesome," Bee kisses Firefly's forehead, which makes the little bot squirm. "Did he, you know, actually recharge for you?"
"Of course he did," Optimus sighs, "though not a full recharge cycle, I am relatively certain he came close to one."
Bee's optics widen, "Really? How'd you manage that?"
"By not feeding him candy every time he asked."
While Firefly is making his normally demand for candy in response to it being mentioned, Bee gives him a disbelieving look, "... how?"
Optimus rolls his optics, "No candy, Firefly."
Firefly gives him and Bumblebee the most sparkbroken look Optimus has ever seen, even better than the one last night, "Candy?"
Bee automatically starts to reach into his sub-space, only for Otimus to grab the minibot's wrist. "Because of the way he reacts to a certain name." Bee gives him a dirty look, and he continues, "Scatterstar."
"Scatter!" the bot smiles brightly, clutching at Bee, sparkbroken look gone as if it had never been there.
Bumblebee stares at Firefly for a long moment, "Aw slag. How long's he been able to do that?"
"My guess?" he asks, continuing when Bee nods, "the very first time Scatterstar ever sparklingsat for you."
Bee makes an irritated grinding noise, and Optimus pats him on the back. "Just don't keep feeding him candy. It is bad enough you feed him normal energon, you know they need the sparkling blend so they learn to drink an entire cube instead of just a little bit."
"He hates sparkling energon, though. He drank from my cube instead of touching the blend when we got to cybertron. Isn't that when you're supposed to switch? When the sparkling demands it?"
"I suspect the same rules may not apply to Seeker sparklings," Optimus watches Firefly continue to demand candy. "I'd suggest you split some of the candy you've been giving into small pieces, and wean him off it with those."
Firefly gives Optimus a dark glare, aware that he is trying to take candy away from him.
Bee nods, murmuring weakly, "I'll have Sunstorm do that, too." The minibot ignores Firefly's look of utter horror, "Thanks for telling me this. Looks like I'll have to tell Scatterstar," Bee pauses, but it seems that the lack of candy has really sunk in and Firefly can't even cry out his favorite uncle's name, "to stop feeding him so much candy."
"I'm sure Blurr will help."
Bee shrugs, "I hope so. But we'll manage if he doesn't." He perks up a bit, "Speaking of Blurr, he's still recharging on our ber-" he glances at Optimus's expression, "still recharging. Want to go wake him up with me, Firefly? I bet he'll chase you if you ask."
Firefly stops pouting long enough to nod eagerly, "Blurr!"
Bumblebee grins, "Well, looks like I've been given my orders, bossbot. I'll talk to you later?"
Optimus waves him away, "Go. Have fun, and make sure you don't give him more than a third of a cube of real energon at once. That's all he should need until he hits a growth spurt."
Bee steps out, Firefly waving as they go, "I'll remember, thanks for watching him, Optimus."
When the door closes, Optimus pokes his headfins. They don't hurt nearly as much as they did, so he gets to work on cleaning them off.
He polishes himself for nearly a megacycle prior to this date. Optimus wants to impress Ultra Magnus's family, and a glossy coat of polish will help. Theoretically. Red Alert often has energon and oil caked into her joints after long shifts of medical work, and he knows that Wheeljack routinely blows himself and Perceptor up.
Regardless, he's going to make himself look as nice as possible without the help of an AllSpark shine. His spark sinks. He's been alone again for close to a decacycle, since Sari moved into her new ninjabot home. His apartment echoes with silence.
He's tried to get Bulkhead to move in, but he only gets told that he's lucky that the larger mech can make it to family meetings, and that's only because those are going to be scheduled way in advance. Optimus sighs, finishing up the polishing, and heading down the elevator. Nodding at the securitybot, he heads out of the building, and drives to the restaurant.
It's a very nice location for a date; upscale, but not enough so that Optimus is going to feel terribly out of place. He wonders if Ultra knew that, or if it had just been a lucky guess. He's thankful for it, no matter which.
Ultra is waiting outside, along with the trio of sciencebots. "Optimus," he hums, pulling the bot close for a hug. "It's good to see you."
Pulling Ultra into a quick and tiny kiss, he ducks down, and rests his head on Ultra's chest, just missing the sparkplates. "I missed you, too," he whispers softly.
The larger mech chuckles, and Optimus can feel it through his frame, safe and comforting, "It is your day off, surely we weren't apart for that long?" Ultra kisses the top of his helmet, "I missed you as well, my lovely Optimus."
He doesn't want to let go, just stay and soak up the feeling of his intended, but he knows that if Sari or Lockdown were here they'd knock more privileges back; they may do that anyway, since the AllSpark seems to know no matter what. He lets go reluctantly, taking Ultra's servo in his before turning to the trio of chaperons with a soft smile. "Are you ready to head in?"
"I'm ready," Red Alert announces, and drags Wheeljack and Perceptor in by their servos. Optimus bites back a smile and follows, servo squeezing Ultra's.
Ultra leans in close, murmuring, "I suppose it would be too soon for me to offer to feed you the energon?"
Optimus flushes, "Yes, I do believe so."
Ultra murmurs, "Pity," then nips on Optimus's headfin quickly before pulling away.
Optimus blushes bright red and drops his head, not wanting to draw too much attention to what just happened. He whispers softly, "Sari is going to yell at us if you go too far, you know."
"And Lockdown said we're allowed to do this now, just that we have to be quiet about it."
"Lockdown also told you to send that," he flushes and lowers his voice, "that video too soon." A few of his fans click on against his will.
Red Alert glances back at the noise, while Perceptor is telling the staff what their party is reserved under. Ultra waves a servo and smiles at her, and she turns back to the other sciencebots. He keeps his voice just as low as Optimus's, and says, "If we were not so thoroughly observed at the moment, I would steal another kiss from you."
A happy shudder goes up his backstrut, but he doesn't look up, "You are allowed to."
"Not the way I want to, and if I do it the way I want to, your engines will rev so loudly. Just like they did when we were in your room on earth."
Optimus's spark throbs with want and remembrance. He misses being able to sit in Ultra's lap and get kissed as he's held lovingly. "You aren't allowed to do that, no." He drops Ultra's servo so he isn't tempted to get closer. Instead, he walks after the sciencebots as they're all lead to their table.
It's a nice set-up, with seats of differing height to accommodate all the bot sizes in their party; although Ultra Magnus is always the odd one out, when it comes to height. Optimus sits beside Ultra, so they can hold servos-on top of the table. He gets the feeling that even the much more relaxed sciencebots will object to their servos linked and out of sight.
He leans his head on Ultra's shoulder, smiling at the trio. "How was your day?"
Perceptor's voice is as emotionless as ever when he holds up a singed servo, "Much better than normal. Red Alert and I did not blow off any body parts."
Red Alert nods, "And Wheeljack only lost one audio light, rather than blowing them both in addition to losing an arm."
"That's," he fumbled for a word that would adequately describe their situation, "good?"
"Exceptionally so," Perceptor intones, before studying the menu.
Following suit, Red Alert leans over to read from Perceptor's menu, rather than her own. "Ooh, they have triple-refined with a rust additive. I want that."
Perceptor gently pushes her away, "They provided you with an identical menu to mine."
Wheeljack looks at Perceptor's menu while the bot is distracted, "I think I want the crystal and iron shavings."
Perceptor gives Wheeljack as dirty a look as Optimus has ever seen the sciencebot have, "You have one as well."
Red Alert steals his menu out of his servos, "Do we really?"
Optimus laughs, and then ducks his head down when all three sciencebots focus their attention on him. "What will you be having, Optimus?" Red Alert asks in a sugary sweet voice.
He hasn't even looked at the menu yet. "I'm not picky," he murmurs, lifting the menu to study it. "Do you have any suggestions, Ultra?"
Ultra shakes his head fondly, "If it were up to you, Optimus, we'd all be drinking ordinary energon tonight."
He hides his face behind the menu, "Bad enough the AllSpark modified all my dispensers so I can't get them to give me the normal kind."
Wheeljack gives him a confused look, "It did?"
Optimus nods sadly, "Sari walked by them, and the AllSpark changed it so even she can't modify them at all." He sighs, "She said the AllSpark didn't like that I looked like I was trying to reject Ultra's precourting gifts."
Ultra rubs his servo, "You deserve to have nice things sometimes, Optimus."
He ducks his head and studies the menu harder, as if that will keep the flush away from his cheeks. "I don't need expensive energon. I grew quite accustomed to the energon on Teletraan, and then on the earth."
Red Alert makes a face, "Yuck. I helped modify that slagging dispenser when I got there. You bots were drinking slagging awful stuff."
Optimus scrolls through the menu, "I didn't mind. We used what we could."
Ultra kisses him gently on the temple, "If I had known, I would have given you a better one."
Optimus shrugs, a faint blush across his faceplate, "I couldn't have imposed."
"It would have been no imposition at all," Ultra insists, before tapping on two different listings. "I think you would enjoy either of these."
He looks at them: a simple quality of energon mixed with several minerals, or a more refined energon blended with an equally refined oil. They both look good. Perhaps they could each order one, and share? He flushes with heat - no. That would be a bad idea.
"I'll get the..." He bites his lower lip, "The refined energon and oil."
Ultra squeezes his servo, lifting it up to brush a gentle kiss along the back of his knuckles, "Want me to get the other one?"
Optimus shakes his head, "No. Get what you want to drink. You don't have to limit what you want, just because I prefer it to be simpler."
"I like sharing with you, Optimus," the mech reminds him. "Even if I can't have you on my lap this time."
"Maybe some time in the future," he offers, putting the menu down before he crushes it. "Please, order what you want."
Ultra leans in close, kissing him softly, "I want-"
Red Alert clears her throat, "Ultra Magnus, you are pushing your boundaries for this date. Just order what you want already. The longer we sit here, the more likely it is Wheeljack will make something explode."
Optimus flushes, and waits for one of the staff to come and take their order. Ultra continues to rub his servo gently, and he has to fight to keep his fans off even as his frame slowly starts to heat.
Eventually, a waiterbot comes up, smiling pleasantly at them. "Have you made your decisions, or do you need more time?"
"We're ready," Ultra squeezes Optimus's servo. They place their orders, and Optimus thinks someone else must have placed his, because he was so thoroughly distracted by looking into Ultra's optics.
Ultra runs a servo along Optimus's face, and he sighs into the touch. It is all he can do not to just lean on the larger mech and let the bot hold him. It is lucky the energon shows up quickly, even if he doesn't notice it until Ultra puts the cube in his servo.
Blinking down at it, he blushes deeply, and abruptly lets go of the mech's servo to sip at the energon. He smiles happily, it is much simpler than what he gets out of his dispensers. "Maybe I should go out for energon more often," he murmurs.
"It meets with your approval?" Ultra asks, taking a sip of his own energon.
He answers with a nod, wondering how many of the other bots in the room are recording as much of this as they can. At least they're far enough away to avoid audio recorders. "Better than I expected."
"This is the kind of stuff we should have had on Earth, Optimus," Red Alert slaps a servo on the table to drive her point home.
Holding the cube with both servos, he sips on it, "It is still more than what I'd prefer to drink, Red Alert." He offlines his optics, savoring the simplicity, "But so much less complicated than what the AllSpark insists I drink now."
He blinks his optics online when he feels a tug at the cube, and Ultra switches cubes with him. Giving his mech a confused look, he watches as Ultra takes a sip of it. "This is simple, Optimus? It is better than what I get from my dispenser."
"Your dispenser is not AllSpark-modified," he murmurs, and tries the energon Ultra had. It's nice. "You could come by some time and look at it yourself." Red Alert coughs, and Optimus flushes, "With chaperons. Of course, with some of our family there."
"Tomorrow, maybe?" Ultra switches their cubes back, servo lingering over the touch. "Make a day of it?"
Optimus looks away, a faint blush still dusting his faceplates, "That depends entirely on whether Sari okays it. If she does, then we will see."
"Then I shall hope she approves of it." He keeps his touches relatively platonic the rest of the date, giving Optimus the precious time he needs to cool his engine - and his spark - down to reasonable levels once more. They are nearly done with their energon when a sudden explosion throws Optimus from his seat. Blinking dazedly, he pushes himself up.
Singed armor and a few dents from flying debris, but he's otherwise alright. He looks at the other bots as he stands, and there appears to be no serious damage-he stops and picks up a severed arm. Wheeljack's severed arm.
Wheeljack's audio lights blink frantically as the bot reboots, and he onlines with a yelp, jerking himself up with his one functional arm. "Frag, what happened?"
"You happened," Perceptor vents a careful huff of air, checking himself for missing parts.
Red Alert walks over and takes the arm from Optimus, "One of you two pay, I'll do a field patch to deal with until we get to a medical bay." She walks back to Wheeljack muttering about idiot team mates, and Optimus is about to pay when it becomes very obvious Ultra is doing that.
He sighs, feeling more than a little useless, when Perceptor walks over to him. The scientist bot puts a servo on his arm, a very faint smile on his face, making Optimus smile back, it is nice to know that Perceptor can have visible emotions. The red mech murmurs, "We're going to have to leave when Red Alert finishes," the bot's optics dart subtly to one of the waiterbots, "And it is very likely we will not be welcome back." Optimus is about to appologize when the other bot shakes his head, "This is fairly normal for us, Optimus. Any time you deal with Wheeljack, you deal with possibly exploding. We've been thrown out of far more places than you'd ever think."
Optimus vents a sigh, "What did he do to create that explosion?" There'd been energon, yes, but it was nigh on impossible to make a single cube of edible-grade energon explode like that.
"It's Wheeljack," Perceptor says, as if that explains everything. And perhaps it does.
He rubs his head again, looking down at his scorched armor. "At least no one else was injured."
Perceptor nods once, and they are joined by Ultra. Optimus allows himself to be drawn into his intended's arms, and kissed softly. Ultra looks over to the other two sciencebots who are just finishing up, "Looks like they're ready. I paid for the damage, and told them how sorry we are. However, as usual, that didn't really matter, and we are still banned until they decide we're allowed back."
Red Alert heads over, dragging Wheeljack after her, and they all walk out. When they are outside, Optimus, reaches up, and tugs Ultra into a goodbye kiss, pulling away in the time he knows Lockdown would give them, rather than the quick peck Sari would allow. Ultra looks disappointed that he couldn't sneak a glossa in, but the sad look disappears when Optimus murmurs, "I'll see you tomorrow." Optimus bids the trio of sciencebots a less loving, but no less caring, farewell, and transforms to head home.
Optimus adjusts the camera carefully, checking three times to make sure it is recording. He is not going to do this a second time. His faceplates would end up melting if he tried.
He sits on the edge of his berth, and smiles hesitantly at the camera, lifting a servo to wave. "I know it's been a while, Ultra," he begins, and rubs the back of his helmet sheepishly. "But I only managed to convince myself to do this now. When you've gone off-planet for the solar cycle, and I have every door in my apartment locked."
He lifts up his servo, and slowly starts to rub his windshield, "I don't really feel ... comfortable with sending this with my spark showing, though." He glances away, faceplate heating up, "But I think of you." He turns back, "Not just when I-I ... you know," he tilts his head quickly to the side then back upright, "not just then. But all the time. Like, right now, I'm thinking about how you, uh." He looks down, peds kicking the floor, "How you kept saying I most likely turned off the video. I only did it the first time you said it, but only almost the second time."
His fingers start to rub at the seams, "But you had told me to watch all the way through, and I'm glad I did." He looks straight at the camera, a small smile on his face, "Though I also think of you at other times."
He lifts up a leg, resting the ped on the edge of the bed, "I have a hard time going by that energon shop we went to before we started courting without thinking of you feeding me energon. I... I'd like you to do that again." He bites his lower lip, "Not at the shop again, but when we can finally be alone together." The rubbing speeds up, "I could sit on your lap as you put the cube up to my mouth. And maybe I could feed you a cube, too? I'd like that."
Optimus stares shyly at the camera, dragging his fingers down the center of his sparkplates, "I know we're not supposed to talk much during this, but since I'm not trying to overload, it should be alright?" He dims his optics, and slides his servos away from his chest, because his engine is starting to rev now, spark pulsing hot beneath his plates. Opening them would be admitting defeat.
"I think about later in our courtship," he admits, ducking his head down, servos playing with the wheels on the sides of his ped. "When we," he hopes his flush isn't picked up from this angle, "are allowed to share a berth." Optimus looks up, so very aware of the camera on him. "Am I going to online some mornings to your glossa, playing with my headfins?" He leaves his treads to rub a headfin slowly, optics offlining at the sensation. "I hope so."
Gentling his touch, he lets out a soft and happy sigh, "I could lick yours, too." His engine revs at the thought, startling him into letting go of his headfin. Blushing brightly, he unconsciously starts to rub his plates again. "I think you'd like that as much as I like you playing with mine. I wonder what it would feel like if we rubbed them together?" Going back to playing with his wheels, he murmurs, "Maybe we could find out when we're allowed to be alone together?" His frame shudders happily. "We can find out then."
He looks straight at the camera, "I love you too, Ultra. Maybe not as long as you have, since I've been told that you'd be willing to bond right now if I asked, but I do love you. The fact that you're willing to wait makes me love you even more, and wish that the courting didn't have a set time." His spark aches with want, and his goes back to rubbing his plates, "I just to be held by you as you tell me how much you love me, and I tell you how much I love you."
Optimus knows his locks are going to disengage if his spark gets any hotter, so he drops his servos away from himself. "I love you, Ultra," he whispers to the camera. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to overload for you." Flushing, he approaches the camera, and adds, when he's behind it, and can't be seen on screen any longer, "When we bond, I'm sure you'll remedy that."
Optimus is in Ultra's home.
Well, he's been there before... once. But that had more to do with Ultra wanting to show him something the Magnus thought he would like than anything like this. He can't even look at Ultra in the optics, flashing back to the video he can't believe he actually sent. And Ultra clearly wants to do nothing more than to lead him up to a room where they can be alone. He's very grateful this is a family meeting; if it weren't he is absolutely certain that he'd be on his back on a berth clu- he cuts off that thought before his fans turn on. He's glad that Sari keeps glaring at Ultra like it is the Magnus' fault that the AllSpark refuses to tell her why he is acting like this; it keeps her from asking him.
Optimus talks to Cliffjumper, who has not managed to keep Shockwave away. This time, he's not even draped with sparklings - instead, he has a single sparkling perched atop his head, and he spends his time skulking around the room. Blurr has spent the entire evening thus far hiding behind Sunstorm.
Optimus is not hiding from Ultra. It is pure and utter coincidence that Optimus happens to remain on the opposite side of the room from him at nearly all times.
He looks down at Cliffjumper, who is sighing in irritation and glaring at Shockwave, "He needs to stop harassing Blurr."
"Does he realize that Blurr is with -"
The minibot glares at him, waving a servo discretely at Bee kissing Blurr lovingly, "It is remarkably obvious, isn't it?"
Optimus makes a face and looks away. It wasn't surprising, really, that Bee's loving kisses tended to quickly morph into intense make-out sessions with more glossa than Optimus ever wanted to see from his family. "Will Shockwave need to be ... escorted out?"
"He'll be on good behavior," Cliffjumper narrows his optics, tracking Shockwave as he walks around. "I told Contraclaw to yank on his antlers if Shockwave does something stupid."
He glances at the claw marks decorating the antlers, "He seems to have it well in servo."
Cliffjumper smiles, and it is not a nice smile, "He was also told to yank if he got too close to Bumblebee or Blurr. That's part of Shockwave doing something stupid."
"I see," Optimus coughs. He couldn't imagine attempting to control Shockwave's behavior the way his collection of minibots apparently does.
Sipping from a cube of energon - in proper minibot size, no less - Cliffjumper eyes Optimus carefully. "Had any serious fights with Ultra Magnus yet?" He lifts a servo to cut Optimus's reply off. "And I don't mean at work."
"We haven't. At all. Not at work or otherwise." He glances over at Sari and then at Lockdown, "We haven't been alone enough to get into an argument."
Cliffjumper raises an optic ridge, "And that won't be happening any time soon."
Optimus sighs, rubbing the back of his helmet, "Not if Sari has anything to do with it."
"Just remember to take the time to cool down when you eventually do get in a fight," Cliffjumper rubs his horns unconsciously. "You're both pretty strong mechs. And you live in pretty expensive places. Can't be cheap to have to fix anything you break."
Optimus flushes, "I moved most of the things in my apartment into the basement storage."
Cliffjumper is about to say something when there's the sound of cursing from Shockwave, and the minibot stalks off to deal with the fact that the ex-Decepticon is misbehaving. He walks over to Sunstorm, Blurr, and Bumblebee, "And how are you all this solar cycle?"
Bee puts a servo over Sunstorm's mouth, "Estatic, boss-bot. If you're willing, we'd like to make an announcement about something before we leave."
Optimus frowns, "You're leaving already?"
Blurr shakes his head quickly, "No,-we-are-just-willing-to-wait-until-everything-has-settled-down-to-say-it."
Optimus smiles brightly, highly amused, "And I'm betting you're the reason why Bumblebee is willing to wait."
Bee looks like he wants to protest, but Blurr talks over him, "Only-partially.-Sunstorm-thinks-it-is-better-to-wait,-too."
"If this is about the three of you being together, it is already very obvious to everyone."
All three of the bots glance at each other, Sunstorm looks immensely smug as Blurr continues, "That-is-only-part-of-the-announcement,-sir."
Shaking his head, Optimus isn't sure he wants to know their secret. "Announce it whenever you're ready." He notices Ultra approaching out of the corner of one optic and smiles, "I need to say hello to Perceptor and the others." Optimus slips away before Ultra reaches them; even though stealth had never been his forte at the Academy, Optimus knew the basic tricks.
Making it to the Sciencebots, he slips in with them easily, "And how are you all?"
Red Alert raises an optic ridge, "I think we should ask you why you are avoiding Ultra. You do seem suspiciously frantic about avoiding him."
Optimus ducks his head, fingers twitching nervously, "I've done nothing. Nothing that broke the rules, in any case."
"You did something," Red Alert asserts, bumping his shoulder with her fist in a playful punch. "And it had Ultra beaming like crazy all morning. You really gotta tell us what it was. And if you can do it more often. He's usually bitter and cranky after off-planet meetings with diplomats."
Optimus blushes brightly and shaking his head, "I won't be doing it again."
She pouts at him, "But he was so happy, Optimus."
Perceptor interrupts her before she can continue, "I imagine it was something that was just on the limits of the rules if Optimus is acting like that, and how happy Ultra is. Do you think the AllSpark will let you do it again?"
Sari wraps her arms around Perceptor's neck, the loud thump betraying how she managed to do it. Peering over the bot's shoulder, she nods, "Oh, it would, since it keeps insisting he is absolutely adorable. But you need to tell us, Optimus, since it refuses to say."
"If the AllSpark won't tell you, I don't believe I should either," Optimus mutters, keeping his head down. If he gets a good look and Sari gives him big, wide, pleading eyes, he's not sure he'll be able to prevent himself from blurting it out. It wasn't fair at all, for her to use dirty tricks like that on her own teammates.
Sari makes an irritated sound, "The one time I want it to tell me, it doesn't say anything."
"I don't want to tell you, either, Sari."
She sighs, and he can hear her as she slides down Perceptor's shoulder and into the bot's lap, "I bet it was a video. But not as bad as Ultra's. You were blushing this badly when that happened, but the AllSpark didn't think that was adorable. It only seems to think you are."
Optimus wishes Sari wouldn't climb all over bots like that when they don't know her very well. It's a bit disrespectful. They weren't furniture, and some bots were intensely private about touch. "I am not blushing." At the moment.
Sari grins. "No, but you were."
"You've been blushing every time you get a look at Ultra Magnus," Wheeljack corrects him, audio lights flashing merrily.
He stands up. "I'm going to go talk to... Lockdown now."
He nods at each of them, even Sari who is making herself comfortable on Perceptor's lap, and walks away. He can hear Sari's smug voice, "Yeah, that was totally a video he sent."
He ignores her and walks over to where Prowl and Jazz are posing artistically in front of a camera Lockdown is using for the meeting. He gives the bounty hunter an amused look as he walks over, the mech is making no attempt to disguise that he's taking far more pictures of Ultra's failed attempts to get at Optimus, than he is of Optimus himself.
http://girloz14.livejournal.com/159566.html
We actually have less days to update on this than we had thought. But that's because of big chapters.
:V
The council room is excessively large, and Optimus has never liked being here. He carries Firefly to the bowl-shaped space reserved for him, and puts the sparkling on one of the seats, offering him a datapad to draw on. "This is a very important meeting, so you should try to stay quiet."
Firefly gnaws on the edge of the datapad.
It isn't long until the meeting actually starts, and he's called to give his report on trying to find the jet twins and the remaining Decepticons. He hates that he has to give the same report that he's been giving for the last several decacycles; the longer it takes, the more he sees them slipping out of his grasp. He hates that Megatron and Starscream somehow escaped, and that Lugnut disappeared before they could even get to him.
He's nearing the end of his report when Firefly ignites his thrusters and leaps into the air. Optimus curses, and tries to grab him, but misses the little bot. Across the hall, Perceptor and Wheeljack share a look, and Optimus thinks they're laughing at him. With one bot's face covered with a mask, and the other largely expressionless, it is hard to tell.
He's waffling on if he should jump out of his area to grab the tiny mech, when Firefly alights on Ultra's shoulder. Relaxing visibly, Optimus smiles at Ultra when the bot tucks the sparkling gently in his arms. Glancing over at the other council members, he finishes up. Firefly spends the rest of the time with Ultra, either in the mech's arms or tucked gently between missile turrets.
Several other reports are given, and Optimus tries to stay attentive to them, but he really isn't meant for this type of work. Instead, he finds his attention drawn repeatedly to Ultra and Firefly. His spark flutters, seeing Ultra handling the sparkling so well. Someday, that could be their sparkling. He ducks his head and scrolls through a datapad to hide his blush.
When everything is done, Optimus is intercepted part way though walking over to Ultra by Perceptor and Wheeljack. Wheeljack puts a servo on his arm, "You're heading over, and you know you can't be alone with him. We'll be with you, since a sparkling doesn't count."
Optimus can't help but laugh. "I'm just going to be-"
Perceptor gives him a blank look, and interrupts him with, "And he will make an excuse for you to stay until the room is empty or for you to walk with him. We will be here."
Wheeljack pulls him on, making him continue walking, "Besides, your side can't be doing all the chaperoning. That's just not fair to us."
Optimus makes an agreeing sound as they approach Ultra. "I would like it if we had you as chaperons for an upcoming date. I'm sure Ultra can schedule something that will work for all of us." He smiles, "Red Alert is welcome as well, of course."
Before they can reply, Ultra carefully pushes Firefly into Optimus's servos. "I see that this little sparkling decorated you for today's meeting."
Adjusting Firefly he nods as the sparkling shakes his head violently and shouts, "No!"
Sighing softly, Optimus looks down at the tiny mech, "What don't you want this time?"
"No hold!" Firefly whines, and pushes at Optimus's arms. "Ultra! Gun! Gun!"
He gives Firefly back to Ultra, "Looks like he prefers you." It's not surprising. Ultra is more heavily armed and is of a size closer to a Seeker than Optimus.
Ultra allows the sparkling to climb up and play with his gun turrets again. "I suppose it won't do him any harm. Bumblebee or Sunstorm should be along soon to pick him up?"
Optimus shrugs, "I have no idea." He frowns, and starts to walk with Ultra, Wheeljack, and Perceptor to the exit of the council chamber, "Did Blurr call in sick today?"
Ultra glances down at him, "He did. Any reason why you're asking?"
He shudders, "Then it is very likely I'll be looking after Firefly for the rest of the day."
Ultra gives him a confused look, Wheeljack and Perceptor may have done the same -not that he can tell-, before the larger mech's optics widen in understanding. "Do you think this means that Sunstorm will be getting two votes?"
Optimus rubs his temples, "If I know anything about seekers, and I'm pretty good at reading them by now, I'd say that is incredibly likely."
Ultra reaches over and catches one of Optimus's servos, giving it a squeeze, "I believe he won't be any trouble, Optimus. He voted positively last time, and with each meeting, we need fewer approvals."
Audio lights flashing, Wheeljack interjects, "So, Optimus was saying he'd like us to chaperon you on a date, Ultra Magnus. You okay with that?"
"Of course," and Ultra smiles at Optimus. "Provided you try not to cause any explosions, Wheeljack."
Firefly peers down at them, "Boom?"
Optimus winces, and he thinks Perceptor is doing the same, as the mech's shoulders are shaking slightly anyway. "Hopefully not."
The sparkling gives them a sad look, and goes back to curling up in Ultra's turrets. Wheeljack coughs softly, "I make no promises, but I certainly do not plan on it."
Reaching his office corridor, Optimus vents a sigh and holds out his arms, "I have more reports to read. I'll take Firefly back now." Firefly whines and hides behind one of Ultra's turrets. "Don't be like that, Firefly."
Ultra reaches up and plucks the sparkling off his shoulder, "I'm willing to have him stay in my office."
Firefly nods frantically, clinging to Ultra's fingers, "Guns!"
Optimus looks at the sparkling to Ultra, and can't think of any reason why the Magnus can't do it. It isn't like Sunstorm or Bumblebee would be upset, and will give him free time to get cleaned up. He vents a tiny sigh, "If you're sure?"
Ultra nods slowly and happily as Firefly yells out, "Yes! Guns!"
Optimus takes a step back, "Just..."
Ultra tugs him close, and kisses him softly, "I'll be careful, Optimus. You don't have to worry."
He steals a second kiss from Ultra, before stepping back. "We both have work to do. I'll remember to invite Cliffjumper along if I need to speak to you before our shifts end." He turns to Wheeljack and Perceptor, "Thank you for agreeing to chaperon us. I hope it is entertaining for us all."
Wheeljack's audio lights flash amusement as the mech nods, "I don't imagine there will be a dull moment, Optimus."
He smiles, and bids the bots goodbye before walking into his office. Propping himself on his desk, he lets his fans turn on from reacting to the kiss. The sound of them makes his processor flash to the sound of Ultra's in the video he was sent, and he sinks to the floor, grateful that he's alone while he deals with his over enthusiastic imagination.
He checks that the vid file is still securely tucked away where no casual scan will ever find it, and focuses on trying to get his systems to stop heating up with want. There are reports that need to be examined, and he can't just ignore them because his spark wants an overload. Optimus lets his fans cool his frame, picking up a datapad filled with the least interesting materials he can find to keep his processor away from Ultra.
It is several megacycles later that there's a knock on the door. Looking up from his almost finished pile of datapads, he blinks. "Come in."
Cliffjumper steps in, holding Firefly, "You need to eat something, sir."
Firefly pouts, "Candy."
"No candy, Firefly," Optimus responds absently. "And I'm not hungry, Cliffjumper."
"Well," Firefly is put on his desk, beside a carefully organized stack of datapads, which the sparkling promptly knocks over, giggling at the crash it makes, "Firefly is hungry, sir. We don't keep sparkling grade energon around, and I like keeping my emergency ration of it for my own sparklings."
Optimus stares with dismay at the ruined datapad pile. He's going to have to re-sort them all. "He drinks normal energon already." He pulls out the partial cube meant for Firefly and sets it carefully in front of him.
Firefly giggles and sips on the energon, while Cliffjumper gives Optimus a disbelieving look. "Already? That's not ve-"
Optimus shakes his head, stopping the minibot. He picks up the datapad stack, "I know. But he's Bumblebee and Sunstorm's sparkling, and I do not control how they raise him. From what I can tell, they also fill him with candy whenever Firefly demands it."
The sparkling puts down the now empty cube, "Candy?"
Optimus blinks in surprise, reaching over and moving the little jet's wings so he can see them easier, "No candy. Cliffjumper... when did he get the elite guard wings on his Autobot symbols?"
The minibot snorts, "When do you think? Ultra Magnus has always been a pushover when it comes to sparklings. Dunno if he'll be the same way with his own, but I bet Firefly just asked him with big, wide optics." Firefly flutters his wings. "I suppose it's easier with ours," Cliffjumper muses, "we raise them all together, so they don't end up too horribly spoiled."
He starts to organize the datapads again, "I can see how that would work, but not a very effective tactic with seekers with easily convinced Autobots. I'm absolutely certain that Scatterstar," he pauses.
"Scatter!" comes Firefly's happy cry.
He continues, "Has been coaching the sparklings on how to get things from the seekers and various autobots."
"Like Ultra Magnus," Cliffjumper laughs, and reaches forward to rub at the paint on Firefly's wings. "Looks like he used his own insignia paint on them. Those aren't gonna come off for quite a while. Guess you've gotten yourself a little set of wings on your wings, kid."
Firefly gets a look he must have picked up from his father. Seeker smugness.
Optimus sighs, "He's been wanting them for the longest time, too. He'd finally stopped bugging me for them when he saw me. When those wings come off, he's most likely going to be back at it."
He hands Cliffjumper the finished datapads, and watches as the minibot puts them in sub-space, "Well, we may have a future elite guard on our servos." Cliffjumper rubs Firefly's horns, "Not a bad thing, right?"
The sparkling just beams at him.
Optimus looks at Firefly, "Are you going to stay with me the rest of this shift, or do you want to go back to Ultra?"
Firefly's peds hit the ground with the distinctive sound of Seeker heels, and he picks a datapad up off the floor, "You."
Reaching over, Optimus plucks the datapad from the sparkling's servos, replacing it with one that isn't filled with sensitive information, "If that's what you want."
Firefly looks at him, optics wide as the little bot nibbles on the pad, "... yes."
He smiles, "Thank you for bringing him over, Cliffjumper. You can go back to work or go on your break or whatever it was you were planning on doing before this happened."
"Thank you, sir," Cliffjumper exits the room, leaving Optimus to look after Firefly once more.
"Do you know how to draw on the datapads, Firefly?" he asks, unsure if Sari explained it to him or not.
The sparkling gives him an insulted look and punches a few buttons, calling up the art program. "Dumb." He goes back to gnawing on it.
Optimus shakes his head, "If that's what you want to do, then."
The sparkling doesn't respond, and he's not the least bit surprised about that. About a megacycle later, he's finished with all the datapads, while Firefly is soundly recharging on his desk.
Standing up, he pets the tiny mech on his side before pulling out a mirror; it is time to clean off all the stickers, and figure out how to remove the toy wings without somehow ripping off his headfins.
He starts on the stickers; they all peel off without too much fuss, though he ends up having to wipe a lot of residue off afterward. The paint decals take more work, but they don't stand up to a low grade solvent. Optimus stops and studies the wings in the mirror. Those were going to be a problem.
He begins to peel and scrape the stickers securing them on away, and winces. Fragging sensitive headfins.
Several breems later, he's gotten the wings off, but still has several stickers stuck to his fins. He is seriously considering just leaving them there because it hurts to think about them, much less touch. Firefly woke up part way through this painful procedure, and Optimus is sitting in his chair with the sparkling on his lap. "Sorry," comes the soft whisper when he drops the wings on the desk.
Optimus pets the little mech on the back, "You know not to do it again, now. That's about all I really expect."
There's a knock on his door, right before Bumblebee comes in. He's immediately tackled by Firefly, and he's knocked to the floor, "Woah." Bee looks at the sparkling, hugging him back, "Guess you missed me, huh? I missed you too, Firefly." He kisses the top of his helmet before looking at Optimus from the floor, "Did you have any problems with him, bossbot?"
Looking down at Bee, Optimus points to his headfins, "I'm not sure if you watched the news this morning, but your little jet covered me in stickers. Perfectly aligned and symmetrical stickers, but stickers none the less. He also stuck these," Optimus lobs the toy wings at the minibot, "on my headfins. With said stickers. I only just got them off."
Bee bursts into laughter, holding up a servo to give his sparkling a tiny high-five. "Way to go, kiddo, that's epic quality pranking there!" Optimus gives them both a stern look, and Bee forces his laughter down to a less hysterical level. "Oh, bossbot, I'm, uh, sorry?"
Optimus shakes his head and sighs, "You're not at all." He crosses his arms over his chest, "You've been feeding your sparkling energon sweets? Those aren't good for sparklings, Bumblebee. I can't imagine how you ever get him to recharge."
Bee looks away, "He sleeps when he's tired?"
Optimus rubs his optics, "Is Blurr going to be staying with you, or was this just a one time thing?"
Bee sits up, Firefly curled in the minibot's lap, and rubs the back of his head, still looking anywhere but Optimus, "Sunstorm and I are really hoping Blurr will stay, but he..." Bee looks down at Firefly, petting the sparkling on the back, and lowering his voice unhappily, "He may decide we're a huge mistake and take off."
"Will Sunstorm allow him to leave?" Optimus asks, skeptical of the Seeker's ability to simply allow a bot he wants to run away.
"Sure," Bumblebee says, before wincing, "Uh, actually, if Blurr decides to leave, you might want to assign him offplanet for a while. Sunstorm's kinda ... persistent."
Optimus arches an optic ridge. Persistent was one way to put it, yes. "I wouldn't worry too much, Bumblebee. Blurr seems to like you quite a bit."
Bee pulls Firefly into a hug, "But I don't know if he likes Sunstorm, we kind of come as a set, you know."
Optimus walks over, and helps his team mate up, "I'm sure it will turn out just fine, Bumblebee. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't like Sunstorm. He isn't that kind of bot."
"Wings!" Firefly interrupts them, turning in Bee's arms to better display both sides of his wings.
"Yeah, yeah, they're very nice wings, Firefl-" he cuts himself off, "Bossbot? Why does he have Elite Guard wings on his insignias?"
Optimus casts a glance up and sighs, before answering, "You have Ultra Magnus to blame for that."
Bee looks at them, "... really?" Optimus nods quietly, and Bumblebee breaks out into a broad grin, rubbing foreheads with his sparkling, "That's great! Now you'll stop bugging everyone for real wings on your symbols. Hopefully these won't wash off too easily."
Optimus rubs a thumb over the wings, "They're going to be there awhile. Cliffjumper said Ultra used his own paint. Kind of unlikely to go away any time soon."
"Awesome," Bee kisses Firefly's forehead, which makes the little bot squirm. "Did he, you know, actually recharge for you?"
"Of course he did," Optimus sighs, "though not a full recharge cycle, I am relatively certain he came close to one."
Bee's optics widen, "Really? How'd you manage that?"
"By not feeding him candy every time he asked."
While Firefly is making his normally demand for candy in response to it being mentioned, Bee gives him a disbelieving look, "... how?"
Optimus rolls his optics, "No candy, Firefly."
Firefly gives him and Bumblebee the most sparkbroken look Optimus has ever seen, even better than the one last night, "Candy?"
Bee automatically starts to reach into his sub-space, only for Otimus to grab the minibot's wrist. "Because of the way he reacts to a certain name." Bee gives him a dirty look, and he continues, "Scatterstar."
"Scatter!" the bot smiles brightly, clutching at Bee, sparkbroken look gone as if it had never been there.
Bumblebee stares at Firefly for a long moment, "Aw slag. How long's he been able to do that?"
"My guess?" he asks, continuing when Bee nods, "the very first time Scatterstar ever sparklingsat for you."
Bee makes an irritated grinding noise, and Optimus pats him on the back. "Just don't keep feeding him candy. It is bad enough you feed him normal energon, you know they need the sparkling blend so they learn to drink an entire cube instead of just a little bit."
"He hates sparkling energon, though. He drank from my cube instead of touching the blend when we got to cybertron. Isn't that when you're supposed to switch? When the sparkling demands it?"
"I suspect the same rules may not apply to Seeker sparklings," Optimus watches Firefly continue to demand candy. "I'd suggest you split some of the candy you've been giving into small pieces, and wean him off it with those."
Firefly gives Optimus a dark glare, aware that he is trying to take candy away from him.
Bee nods, murmuring weakly, "I'll have Sunstorm do that, too." The minibot ignores Firefly's look of utter horror, "Thanks for telling me this. Looks like I'll have to tell Scatterstar," Bee pauses, but it seems that the lack of candy has really sunk in and Firefly can't even cry out his favorite uncle's name, "to stop feeding him so much candy."
"I'm sure Blurr will help."
Bee shrugs, "I hope so. But we'll manage if he doesn't." He perks up a bit, "Speaking of Blurr, he's still recharging on our ber-" he glances at Optimus's expression, "still recharging. Want to go wake him up with me, Firefly? I bet he'll chase you if you ask."
Firefly stops pouting long enough to nod eagerly, "Blurr!"
Bumblebee grins, "Well, looks like I've been given my orders, bossbot. I'll talk to you later?"
Optimus waves him away, "Go. Have fun, and make sure you don't give him more than a third of a cube of real energon at once. That's all he should need until he hits a growth spurt."
Bee steps out, Firefly waving as they go, "I'll remember, thanks for watching him, Optimus."
When the door closes, Optimus pokes his headfins. They don't hurt nearly as much as they did, so he gets to work on cleaning them off.
He polishes himself for nearly a megacycle prior to this date. Optimus wants to impress Ultra Magnus's family, and a glossy coat of polish will help. Theoretically. Red Alert often has energon and oil caked into her joints after long shifts of medical work, and he knows that Wheeljack routinely blows himself and Perceptor up.
Regardless, he's going to make himself look as nice as possible without the help of an AllSpark shine. His spark sinks. He's been alone again for close to a decacycle, since Sari moved into her new ninjabot home. His apartment echoes with silence.
He's tried to get Bulkhead to move in, but he only gets told that he's lucky that the larger mech can make it to family meetings, and that's only because those are going to be scheduled way in advance. Optimus sighs, finishing up the polishing, and heading down the elevator. Nodding at the securitybot, he heads out of the building, and drives to the restaurant.
It's a very nice location for a date; upscale, but not enough so that Optimus is going to feel terribly out of place. He wonders if Ultra knew that, or if it had just been a lucky guess. He's thankful for it, no matter which.
Ultra is waiting outside, along with the trio of sciencebots. "Optimus," he hums, pulling the bot close for a hug. "It's good to see you."
Pulling Ultra into a quick and tiny kiss, he ducks down, and rests his head on Ultra's chest, just missing the sparkplates. "I missed you, too," he whispers softly.
The larger mech chuckles, and Optimus can feel it through his frame, safe and comforting, "It is your day off, surely we weren't apart for that long?" Ultra kisses the top of his helmet, "I missed you as well, my lovely Optimus."
He doesn't want to let go, just stay and soak up the feeling of his intended, but he knows that if Sari or Lockdown were here they'd knock more privileges back; they may do that anyway, since the AllSpark seems to know no matter what. He lets go reluctantly, taking Ultra's servo in his before turning to the trio of chaperons with a soft smile. "Are you ready to head in?"
"I'm ready," Red Alert announces, and drags Wheeljack and Perceptor in by their servos. Optimus bites back a smile and follows, servo squeezing Ultra's.
Ultra leans in close, murmuring, "I suppose it would be too soon for me to offer to feed you the energon?"
Optimus flushes, "Yes, I do believe so."
Ultra murmurs, "Pity," then nips on Optimus's headfin quickly before pulling away.
Optimus blushes bright red and drops his head, not wanting to draw too much attention to what just happened. He whispers softly, "Sari is going to yell at us if you go too far, you know."
"And Lockdown said we're allowed to do this now, just that we have to be quiet about it."
"Lockdown also told you to send that," he flushes and lowers his voice, "that video too soon." A few of his fans click on against his will.
Red Alert glances back at the noise, while Perceptor is telling the staff what their party is reserved under. Ultra waves a servo and smiles at her, and she turns back to the other sciencebots. He keeps his voice just as low as Optimus's, and says, "If we were not so thoroughly observed at the moment, I would steal another kiss from you."
A happy shudder goes up his backstrut, but he doesn't look up, "You are allowed to."
"Not the way I want to, and if I do it the way I want to, your engines will rev so loudly. Just like they did when we were in your room on earth."
Optimus's spark throbs with want and remembrance. He misses being able to sit in Ultra's lap and get kissed as he's held lovingly. "You aren't allowed to do that, no." He drops Ultra's servo so he isn't tempted to get closer. Instead, he walks after the sciencebots as they're all lead to their table.
It's a nice set-up, with seats of differing height to accommodate all the bot sizes in their party; although Ultra Magnus is always the odd one out, when it comes to height. Optimus sits beside Ultra, so they can hold servos-on top of the table. He gets the feeling that even the much more relaxed sciencebots will object to their servos linked and out of sight.
He leans his head on Ultra's shoulder, smiling at the trio. "How was your day?"
Perceptor's voice is as emotionless as ever when he holds up a singed servo, "Much better than normal. Red Alert and I did not blow off any body parts."
Red Alert nods, "And Wheeljack only lost one audio light, rather than blowing them both in addition to losing an arm."
"That's," he fumbled for a word that would adequately describe their situation, "good?"
"Exceptionally so," Perceptor intones, before studying the menu.
Following suit, Red Alert leans over to read from Perceptor's menu, rather than her own. "Ooh, they have triple-refined with a rust additive. I want that."
Perceptor gently pushes her away, "They provided you with an identical menu to mine."
Wheeljack looks at Perceptor's menu while the bot is distracted, "I think I want the crystal and iron shavings."
Perceptor gives Wheeljack as dirty a look as Optimus has ever seen the sciencebot have, "You have one as well."
Red Alert steals his menu out of his servos, "Do we really?"
Optimus laughs, and then ducks his head down when all three sciencebots focus their attention on him. "What will you be having, Optimus?" Red Alert asks in a sugary sweet voice.
He hasn't even looked at the menu yet. "I'm not picky," he murmurs, lifting the menu to study it. "Do you have any suggestions, Ultra?"
Ultra shakes his head fondly, "If it were up to you, Optimus, we'd all be drinking ordinary energon tonight."
He hides his face behind the menu, "Bad enough the AllSpark modified all my dispensers so I can't get them to give me the normal kind."
Wheeljack gives him a confused look, "It did?"
Optimus nods sadly, "Sari walked by them, and the AllSpark changed it so even she can't modify them at all." He sighs, "She said the AllSpark didn't like that I looked like I was trying to reject Ultra's precourting gifts."
Ultra rubs his servo, "You deserve to have nice things sometimes, Optimus."
He ducks his head and studies the menu harder, as if that will keep the flush away from his cheeks. "I don't need expensive energon. I grew quite accustomed to the energon on Teletraan, and then on the earth."
Red Alert makes a face, "Yuck. I helped modify that slagging dispenser when I got there. You bots were drinking slagging awful stuff."
Optimus scrolls through the menu, "I didn't mind. We used what we could."
Ultra kisses him gently on the temple, "If I had known, I would have given you a better one."
Optimus shrugs, a faint blush across his faceplate, "I couldn't have imposed."
"It would have been no imposition at all," Ultra insists, before tapping on two different listings. "I think you would enjoy either of these."
He looks at them: a simple quality of energon mixed with several minerals, or a more refined energon blended with an equally refined oil. They both look good. Perhaps they could each order one, and share? He flushes with heat - no. That would be a bad idea.
"I'll get the..." He bites his lower lip, "The refined energon and oil."
Ultra squeezes his servo, lifting it up to brush a gentle kiss along the back of his knuckles, "Want me to get the other one?"
Optimus shakes his head, "No. Get what you want to drink. You don't have to limit what you want, just because I prefer it to be simpler."
"I like sharing with you, Optimus," the mech reminds him. "Even if I can't have you on my lap this time."
"Maybe some time in the future," he offers, putting the menu down before he crushes it. "Please, order what you want."
Ultra leans in close, kissing him softly, "I want-"
Red Alert clears her throat, "Ultra Magnus, you are pushing your boundaries for this date. Just order what you want already. The longer we sit here, the more likely it is Wheeljack will make something explode."
Optimus flushes, and waits for one of the staff to come and take their order. Ultra continues to rub his servo gently, and he has to fight to keep his fans off even as his frame slowly starts to heat.
Eventually, a waiterbot comes up, smiling pleasantly at them. "Have you made your decisions, or do you need more time?"
"We're ready," Ultra squeezes Optimus's servo. They place their orders, and Optimus thinks someone else must have placed his, because he was so thoroughly distracted by looking into Ultra's optics.
Ultra runs a servo along Optimus's face, and he sighs into the touch. It is all he can do not to just lean on the larger mech and let the bot hold him. It is lucky the energon shows up quickly, even if he doesn't notice it until Ultra puts the cube in his servo.
Blinking down at it, he blushes deeply, and abruptly lets go of the mech's servo to sip at the energon. He smiles happily, it is much simpler than what he gets out of his dispensers. "Maybe I should go out for energon more often," he murmurs.
"It meets with your approval?" Ultra asks, taking a sip of his own energon.
He answers with a nod, wondering how many of the other bots in the room are recording as much of this as they can. At least they're far enough away to avoid audio recorders. "Better than I expected."
"This is the kind of stuff we should have had on Earth, Optimus," Red Alert slaps a servo on the table to drive her point home.
Holding the cube with both servos, he sips on it, "It is still more than what I'd prefer to drink, Red Alert." He offlines his optics, savoring the simplicity, "But so much less complicated than what the AllSpark insists I drink now."
He blinks his optics online when he feels a tug at the cube, and Ultra switches cubes with him. Giving his mech a confused look, he watches as Ultra takes a sip of it. "This is simple, Optimus? It is better than what I get from my dispenser."
"Your dispenser is not AllSpark-modified," he murmurs, and tries the energon Ultra had. It's nice. "You could come by some time and look at it yourself." Red Alert coughs, and Optimus flushes, "With chaperons. Of course, with some of our family there."
"Tomorrow, maybe?" Ultra switches their cubes back, servo lingering over the touch. "Make a day of it?"
Optimus looks away, a faint blush still dusting his faceplates, "That depends entirely on whether Sari okays it. If she does, then we will see."
"Then I shall hope she approves of it." He keeps his touches relatively platonic the rest of the date, giving Optimus the precious time he needs to cool his engine - and his spark - down to reasonable levels once more. They are nearly done with their energon when a sudden explosion throws Optimus from his seat. Blinking dazedly, he pushes himself up.
Singed armor and a few dents from flying debris, but he's otherwise alright. He looks at the other bots as he stands, and there appears to be no serious damage-he stops and picks up a severed arm. Wheeljack's severed arm.
Wheeljack's audio lights blink frantically as the bot reboots, and he onlines with a yelp, jerking himself up with his one functional arm. "Frag, what happened?"
"You happened," Perceptor vents a careful huff of air, checking himself for missing parts.
Red Alert walks over and takes the arm from Optimus, "One of you two pay, I'll do a field patch to deal with until we get to a medical bay." She walks back to Wheeljack muttering about idiot team mates, and Optimus is about to pay when it becomes very obvious Ultra is doing that.
He sighs, feeling more than a little useless, when Perceptor walks over to him. The scientist bot puts a servo on his arm, a very faint smile on his face, making Optimus smile back, it is nice to know that Perceptor can have visible emotions. The red mech murmurs, "We're going to have to leave when Red Alert finishes," the bot's optics dart subtly to one of the waiterbots, "And it is very likely we will not be welcome back." Optimus is about to appologize when the other bot shakes his head, "This is fairly normal for us, Optimus. Any time you deal with Wheeljack, you deal with possibly exploding. We've been thrown out of far more places than you'd ever think."
Optimus vents a sigh, "What did he do to create that explosion?" There'd been energon, yes, but it was nigh on impossible to make a single cube of edible-grade energon explode like that.
"It's Wheeljack," Perceptor says, as if that explains everything. And perhaps it does.
He rubs his head again, looking down at his scorched armor. "At least no one else was injured."
Perceptor nods once, and they are joined by Ultra. Optimus allows himself to be drawn into his intended's arms, and kissed softly. Ultra looks over to the other two sciencebots who are just finishing up, "Looks like they're ready. I paid for the damage, and told them how sorry we are. However, as usual, that didn't really matter, and we are still banned until they decide we're allowed back."
Red Alert heads over, dragging Wheeljack after her, and they all walk out. When they are outside, Optimus, reaches up, and tugs Ultra into a goodbye kiss, pulling away in the time he knows Lockdown would give them, rather than the quick peck Sari would allow. Ultra looks disappointed that he couldn't sneak a glossa in, but the sad look disappears when Optimus murmurs, "I'll see you tomorrow." Optimus bids the trio of sciencebots a less loving, but no less caring, farewell, and transforms to head home.
Optimus adjusts the camera carefully, checking three times to make sure it is recording. He is not going to do this a second time. His faceplates would end up melting if he tried.
He sits on the edge of his berth, and smiles hesitantly at the camera, lifting a servo to wave. "I know it's been a while, Ultra," he begins, and rubs the back of his helmet sheepishly. "But I only managed to convince myself to do this now. When you've gone off-planet for the solar cycle, and I have every door in my apartment locked."
He lifts up his servo, and slowly starts to rub his windshield, "I don't really feel ... comfortable with sending this with my spark showing, though." He glances away, faceplate heating up, "But I think of you." He turns back, "Not just when I-I ... you know," he tilts his head quickly to the side then back upright, "not just then. But all the time. Like, right now, I'm thinking about how you, uh." He looks down, peds kicking the floor, "How you kept saying I most likely turned off the video. I only did it the first time you said it, but only almost the second time."
His fingers start to rub at the seams, "But you had told me to watch all the way through, and I'm glad I did." He looks straight at the camera, a small smile on his face, "Though I also think of you at other times."
He lifts up a leg, resting the ped on the edge of the bed, "I have a hard time going by that energon shop we went to before we started courting without thinking of you feeding me energon. I... I'd like you to do that again." He bites his lower lip, "Not at the shop again, but when we can finally be alone together." The rubbing speeds up, "I could sit on your lap as you put the cube up to my mouth. And maybe I could feed you a cube, too? I'd like that."
Optimus stares shyly at the camera, dragging his fingers down the center of his sparkplates, "I know we're not supposed to talk much during this, but since I'm not trying to overload, it should be alright?" He dims his optics, and slides his servos away from his chest, because his engine is starting to rev now, spark pulsing hot beneath his plates. Opening them would be admitting defeat.
"I think about later in our courtship," he admits, ducking his head down, servos playing with the wheels on the sides of his ped. "When we," he hopes his flush isn't picked up from this angle, "are allowed to share a berth." Optimus looks up, so very aware of the camera on him. "Am I going to online some mornings to your glossa, playing with my headfins?" He leaves his treads to rub a headfin slowly, optics offlining at the sensation. "I hope so."
Gentling his touch, he lets out a soft and happy sigh, "I could lick yours, too." His engine revs at the thought, startling him into letting go of his headfin. Blushing brightly, he unconsciously starts to rub his plates again. "I think you'd like that as much as I like you playing with mine. I wonder what it would feel like if we rubbed them together?" Going back to playing with his wheels, he murmurs, "Maybe we could find out when we're allowed to be alone together?" His frame shudders happily. "We can find out then."
He looks straight at the camera, "I love you too, Ultra. Maybe not as long as you have, since I've been told that you'd be willing to bond right now if I asked, but I do love you. The fact that you're willing to wait makes me love you even more, and wish that the courting didn't have a set time." His spark aches with want, and his goes back to rubbing his plates, "I just to be held by you as you tell me how much you love me, and I tell you how much I love you."
Optimus knows his locks are going to disengage if his spark gets any hotter, so he drops his servos away from himself. "I love you, Ultra," he whispers to the camera. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to overload for you." Flushing, he approaches the camera, and adds, when he's behind it, and can't be seen on screen any longer, "When we bond, I'm sure you'll remedy that."
Optimus is in Ultra's home.
Well, he's been there before... once. But that had more to do with Ultra wanting to show him something the Magnus thought he would like than anything like this. He can't even look at Ultra in the optics, flashing back to the video he can't believe he actually sent. And Ultra clearly wants to do nothing more than to lead him up to a room where they can be alone. He's very grateful this is a family meeting; if it weren't he is absolutely certain that he'd be on his back on a berth clu- he cuts off that thought before his fans turn on. He's glad that Sari keeps glaring at Ultra like it is the Magnus' fault that the AllSpark refuses to tell her why he is acting like this; it keeps her from asking him.
Optimus talks to Cliffjumper, who has not managed to keep Shockwave away. This time, he's not even draped with sparklings - instead, he has a single sparkling perched atop his head, and he spends his time skulking around the room. Blurr has spent the entire evening thus far hiding behind Sunstorm.
Optimus is not hiding from Ultra. It is pure and utter coincidence that Optimus happens to remain on the opposite side of the room from him at nearly all times.
He looks down at Cliffjumper, who is sighing in irritation and glaring at Shockwave, "He needs to stop harassing Blurr."
"Does he realize that Blurr is with -"
The minibot glares at him, waving a servo discretely at Bee kissing Blurr lovingly, "It is remarkably obvious, isn't it?"
Optimus makes a face and looks away. It wasn't surprising, really, that Bee's loving kisses tended to quickly morph into intense make-out sessions with more glossa than Optimus ever wanted to see from his family. "Will Shockwave need to be ... escorted out?"
"He'll be on good behavior," Cliffjumper narrows his optics, tracking Shockwave as he walks around. "I told Contraclaw to yank on his antlers if Shockwave does something stupid."
He glances at the claw marks decorating the antlers, "He seems to have it well in servo."
Cliffjumper smiles, and it is not a nice smile, "He was also told to yank if he got too close to Bumblebee or Blurr. That's part of Shockwave doing something stupid."
"I see," Optimus coughs. He couldn't imagine attempting to control Shockwave's behavior the way his collection of minibots apparently does.
Sipping from a cube of energon - in proper minibot size, no less - Cliffjumper eyes Optimus carefully. "Had any serious fights with Ultra Magnus yet?" He lifts a servo to cut Optimus's reply off. "And I don't mean at work."
"We haven't. At all. Not at work or otherwise." He glances over at Sari and then at Lockdown, "We haven't been alone enough to get into an argument."
Cliffjumper raises an optic ridge, "And that won't be happening any time soon."
Optimus sighs, rubbing the back of his helmet, "Not if Sari has anything to do with it."
"Just remember to take the time to cool down when you eventually do get in a fight," Cliffjumper rubs his horns unconsciously. "You're both pretty strong mechs. And you live in pretty expensive places. Can't be cheap to have to fix anything you break."
Optimus flushes, "I moved most of the things in my apartment into the basement storage."
Cliffjumper is about to say something when there's the sound of cursing from Shockwave, and the minibot stalks off to deal with the fact that the ex-Decepticon is misbehaving. He walks over to Sunstorm, Blurr, and Bumblebee, "And how are you all this solar cycle?"
Bee puts a servo over Sunstorm's mouth, "Estatic, boss-bot. If you're willing, we'd like to make an announcement about something before we leave."
Optimus frowns, "You're leaving already?"
Blurr shakes his head quickly, "No,-we-are-just-willing-to-wait-until-everything-has-settled-down-to-say-it."
Optimus smiles brightly, highly amused, "And I'm betting you're the reason why Bumblebee is willing to wait."
Bee looks like he wants to protest, but Blurr talks over him, "Only-partially.-Sunstorm-thinks-it-is-better-to-wait,-too."
"If this is about the three of you being together, it is already very obvious to everyone."
All three of the bots glance at each other, Sunstorm looks immensely smug as Blurr continues, "That-is-only-part-of-the-announcement,-sir."
Shaking his head, Optimus isn't sure he wants to know their secret. "Announce it whenever you're ready." He notices Ultra approaching out of the corner of one optic and smiles, "I need to say hello to Perceptor and the others." Optimus slips away before Ultra reaches them; even though stealth had never been his forte at the Academy, Optimus knew the basic tricks.
Making it to the Sciencebots, he slips in with them easily, "And how are you all?"
Red Alert raises an optic ridge, "I think we should ask you why you are avoiding Ultra. You do seem suspiciously frantic about avoiding him."
Optimus ducks his head, fingers twitching nervously, "I've done nothing. Nothing that broke the rules, in any case."
"You did something," Red Alert asserts, bumping his shoulder with her fist in a playful punch. "And it had Ultra beaming like crazy all morning. You really gotta tell us what it was. And if you can do it more often. He's usually bitter and cranky after off-planet meetings with diplomats."
Optimus blushes brightly and shaking his head, "I won't be doing it again."
She pouts at him, "But he was so happy, Optimus."
Perceptor interrupts her before she can continue, "I imagine it was something that was just on the limits of the rules if Optimus is acting like that, and how happy Ultra is. Do you think the AllSpark will let you do it again?"
Sari wraps her arms around Perceptor's neck, the loud thump betraying how she managed to do it. Peering over the bot's shoulder, she nods, "Oh, it would, since it keeps insisting he is absolutely adorable. But you need to tell us, Optimus, since it refuses to say."
"If the AllSpark won't tell you, I don't believe I should either," Optimus mutters, keeping his head down. If he gets a good look and Sari gives him big, wide, pleading eyes, he's not sure he'll be able to prevent himself from blurting it out. It wasn't fair at all, for her to use dirty tricks like that on her own teammates.
Sari makes an irritated sound, "The one time I want it to tell me, it doesn't say anything."
"I don't want to tell you, either, Sari."
She sighs, and he can hear her as she slides down Perceptor's shoulder and into the bot's lap, "I bet it was a video. But not as bad as Ultra's. You were blushing this badly when that happened, but the AllSpark didn't think that was adorable. It only seems to think you are."
Optimus wishes Sari wouldn't climb all over bots like that when they don't know her very well. It's a bit disrespectful. They weren't furniture, and some bots were intensely private about touch. "I am not blushing." At the moment.
Sari grins. "No, but you were."
"You've been blushing every time you get a look at Ultra Magnus," Wheeljack corrects him, audio lights flashing merrily.
He stands up. "I'm going to go talk to... Lockdown now."
He nods at each of them, even Sari who is making herself comfortable on Perceptor's lap, and walks away. He can hear Sari's smug voice, "Yeah, that was totally a video he sent."
He ignores her and walks over to where Prowl and Jazz are posing artistically in front of a camera Lockdown is using for the meeting. He gives the bounty hunter an amused look as he walks over, the mech is making no attempt to disguise that he's taking far more pictures of Ultra's failed attempts to get at Optimus, than he is of Optimus himself.
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